We had an Air Force survival school instructor come to a convocation at our high school (a looong time ago!) and tell us about eating insects in order to survive. Several of us tried eating ants (the little-bitty ones) and they weren’t too bad. They are sour from the formic acid they contain. I doubt we could ever have eaten enough to get any nourishment from them, though. I ate a dried grasshopper in a similar setting but it was an enormous struggle to do it.
On the lighter side, we would usually crunch the ants between our teeth rather than squish them beforehand – once one avoided my incisors and bit me on the tongue! How’s that for live food?
“non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem”
How in the world do you eat LIVE lobster and octopus? I mean, I can see raw, but LIVE?
picturing this octopus on the table moving around and someone with a knife and fork
trisha
He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice - Albert Einstein
Oh, yeah! Now, I haven’t had saltwater eel, I don’t think, but I love freshwater eel. I get unagi every time I go to a Japanese restaurant.
Re: placenta…I’m pretty sure I saw this too. Either that or someone else told me about it and the images I’m getting thinking about this are the same ones I got when I was told about it initially.
Call me closed-minded but I ain’t eatin’ nothin’ that’s trying to crawl away from me.
I’ve seen chefs prepare lobster sashimi (that’s raw, live lobster). It’s pretty vicious. They take the lobster and cut off its tail. The tail flops around for awhile, and when it weakens, they skillfully cut it open, pull out the meat, cut the meat into thin strips, and put it back into the tail to serve. The top half of the lobster (the head) is also on the dish, alongside the tail. There have been many instances where the head crawled off the dish as patrons were eating.
As for live octopus, I’ve never seen it at a restaurant. But I’ve gone fishing with some of my friends who like to spear octopus. After the catch, they drop the octopus in boiling water, which does not kill it but weakens it greatly, pull it out quickly and cut it up and dip it in hot sauce. The tentacles are still wriggling as you chew on it.
Well, I’ve had some ‘odd’ stuff, but nothing that you can’t find if you look hard enough.
Squid - yummy
Octopus - Was served in a sauce made form its ink. In fact, that was the selling point for me. Wasn’t bad, but the ink tasted… well… like ink. Or old oil. Or something you’d expect a thick black sauce to taste like.
Ostrich - Got a free sample over the net. Viva la internet
Escarot - Overrated. Tasted like plugs of rubber in garlic sauce. Not horrible, but nothing I’d have on my last meal before execution tray.
Frog legs - Tastes like chicken. 'Nuff said
Live oysters - Yummy, in the phlegmy sort of way. I don’t expect to ever swallow semen in my lifetime, but I’d imagine the texture isn’t far off.
Beef tounge - Like it. Tastes like beef sans bone and fat
Raw beef - mainly because anytime my friend’s wife insists that we fondue, I get bored waiting for my food to cook one bite at a time and start eating the meat raw.
“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
For me it would be squirrel kinda like dark meat chicken, goat very stringy.
The chicken egg thing is usually a duck egg and it’s called a “bahloot” im sure t misspelled that but my dictionary wont even come close. It’s a fertilized egg that has been buried for about two weeks and allowed to partially incubate. At least this is the story I got from the guys I know who lived in the Phillippines. Anyone have first hand knowledge? My vote this would be the winner hands down.
I had someone dare me to eat bahloot (I think the spellings close enough). She didn’t eat it personally, but a lot of her relatives did. I told her that I generally eat anything when I’m drunk, and she offered to bring me some.
The word for the duck eggs is “balut”.The duck Egg is allowed to incubate for several weeks. Just enough time so the chick is in there, but not long enough for the chick to start getting it’s feathers.I think they cook it (not sure).I have not tried it (my relatives dont eat it), but i hear it tastes something like scrambled eggs (Yum!). You also are told not to eat the beak because it’s hard (you spit it out). Also, you have to drink the liquid in the egg first :). Oh and relatives have told me that you never look at it first! Usually it’s eaten with beer.
Stuff i have had is:
Dinaguan (Dee-nah-gwahn)- Filipine blood stew. Usually has pork mixed in and with other stuff or alone. I love it served over white rice. (at least how the neighbors prepare it). We call it Chocolate meat to trick non Filipinos who havent had it before LOL.
Kare-Kare (Kah-ray Kah-ray)- is usually oxtail stew, but i have had it with tripe (shudder), but it can be made with goatmeat. It tastes good but the texture of the tripe puts me off. It is served with Bagoong (bah-go-ohng), which is these small fermented shrimps. A pinch is enough for flavor (other than that is too strong).
Dried squid - actually it’s quite tasty. Slightly salty, but dont smell it first.
eel - very good. Quite tender and buttery. I usually have it in sushi, and it’s grilled teriyaki style. Occasionally it has a slight fishy taste, but good.
Fish roe - it’s usually on my favorite sushi - tempura maki.
Raw Fish - Also usually in sushi. It has no flavor at all. I have had whitefish, and also tuna.
Patis (pah-teess) - Another Filipine thing. It’s made from the drippings when they make Bagoong. Its black in color, and served mixed into different dishes (its a sauce).
The usual…octopus, squid and snails…grassshoppers and fried grubs…goats yes and cous cous but my
favourrite was that dark eye Moroccan
berber who served the meal.
dREAD pIRATE jUDY
I’ve had shark, and enjoyed it very much. I also like caribou. Got a roast from a friend, marinated it in Italian dressing, and roasted it like you would a regular roast beef. Most excellent.
And as a redhead, Omniscientnot is my new best friend…
The most exotic thing I’ve ever eaten is chocolate syrup.
I would have to continue this over in the B.B.Q. Pit to tell you WHERE the chocolate syrup was!
When I was around 5 years old, a friend of mine, and I ate some ants from underneath our patio. Why? Who the heck knows. But I remember them tasting very bitter (like others have said), and basically disgusting.
I’ve had octopus, and it just reminded me of chewing on a hose.
I’ve also had a dish called kibi (sp?). I’m pretty sure it’s like a raw lamb pate. I had it at some middle eastern restaurant. Ick, that stuff is probably worse than the octopus, and ants.
Doobieous: Pinoy ka 'ba ? Yup, balut might win hands down but for…
Hey ! You’ve forgotten the Ilocano gastronomic marvel, papaitan.
Put live goat on a leash, feed it sweet [glutinous] rice till it can’t eat no more, kill it, cut out belly with digested rice, steam it with the bile, jute leaves, garlic, & hot pepper…
“Proverbs for Paranoids, 1: You may never get to touch the Master, but you can tickle his creatures.”
